In a typical application, a sonde, which is a device for generating magnetic fields within a pipe, conduit, or other cavity, is positioned with the pipe to generate output magnetic fields. An associated magnetic field locator is used above-ground, typically at or near the ground surface, to locate the position of the sonde relative to the surface and/or determine the sonde's depth.
Conventional sonde devices often employ a core structure composed of metals such as steel or a cylindrical bar of ferrite. As such, these core structures, used with batteries, are not optimized at reducing eddy currents resulting in a loss of efficiency for the sonde device. Furthermore, conventional sonde devices may be configured to only operate at one frequency, thereby allowing for less than ideal detection under certain circumstances where multiple and/or variable frequency magnetic field signals would be useful.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art to address the above-described as well as other problems.